Tethered product displays have evolved in the retail market along with the evolution of technology from shoulder-carried camcorders to tablet devices and smart phones. The typical “big box” retailer has one or more display locations inside the store with an array of hand-held devices mounted to a countertop (or similar surface) at individual post positions. In some cases, the product is mounted to the post such that it cannot be lifted. More commonly, the product is tethered so that the consumer can lift the product and examine it, and thereafter, return it to rest on the countertop surface.
With respect to the latter situation, different types of tethered systems have evolved in the art. One of the more common types is a reeled, multi-conductor cable. The thin-gauge copper wires within this type of cable provide a certain degree of physical security against cutting, although primary security in this type of system involves providing electrical power to theft sensors that are triggered when power is cut. Alternatively, reeled steel cables have been used, mostly during the early beginnings of retail/hand-held security systems. This older type of system generally provides only physical security because the typical braided steel cable is difficult to cut. A third type of security/tether cable is a “curly-Q” cable, somewhat like the one that is common to older telephones and similar configurations. This last kind of cable offers extension and retraction of the cord (via the coils in the cord) without a reel. However, like the reeled, multi-conductor cable described above, it is also easy to cut because there is little more than thin-gauge copper wires inside the coils.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,592,548 describes a security cable having a central metal cord surrounded by a spiral wrap of electrical conductors. While this design combines the physical security of a steel cord with the need to have wiring inside the tether, it cannot be made to work in a “curly-Q” configuration where tether extension and retraction comes from coils that are closely spaced (i.e., like a coil spring).
The invention described here is an improvement over the types of power-security cords described above.